Forsyth County Georgia Board of Education - Jere Krischel - 10/19/2021

We have often been reminded, by the children speaking here in support of the DEI program, of what happened in Forsyth County in 1912. I've reviewed the history, and it is shocking. Disgusting. And I raise it here again to explore an unconscious bias I don't think anyone realizes exists.

In 1912, two republican black men were falsely accused of attacks on democrat white women. Democrats organized a band of terrorists, called the "Night Riders", and drove out 98% of the black republican families from Forsyth County. The abject murder, violence, and persecution of the black republicans by white democrats of that era is a trauma that lives on to this day.

I'm not trying to shame, or blame Democrats today for the sins of Democrats in the past. I'm sure that for Democrats, either on the School Board or in the audience, the framing of the darkest days of Forsyth County history, in terms of political parties, feels unfair. Far from inspiring anyone to disavow their Democrat privilege, or to have sympathy with the struggles and historical trauma of Republicans, my bet is that I triggered their defenses, and they're now *less* likely to be persuaded by anything I have to say.

Which, ironically, is my larger point. If you felt that my historical framing was unfair, I urge you to consider that this is how people feel when every historical conflict is framed in terms of race. Rather than being persuasive, it triggers defensiveness. It is alienating those we hope to reach, and even worse, it is on the basis of someone's immutable characteristics, rather than on a choice they can change. A Democrat, embarrassed by the racist history of their party, can join another party, and absolve their guilt. A white person, embarrassed by the racist history of people they're not even related to, but who looked the same as they did, can't undergo trans-racial surgery to eliminate their whiteness.

You may remember the phrase, "with great power comes great responsibility", from Spiderman. If we tell Republicans of Forsyth County that the systemic bias against them since 1912 is the primary reason for any of their outcomes, we take away any sense of power they have. And with no power, comes no responsibility.

This is the critical problem we face - if we approach diversity, inclusion, and equity in a way that absolves individuals of responsibility, by casting them as victims with no power, we create a self-fulfilling prophecy that will leave them powerless in the future.

There is a meme of three people trying to look over a fence, showing how things can be made equitable by giving an extra box, or a few extra boxes, for the shorter people to stand on. This seems to neatly capture the idea of how people start from different points, and offers a definition of equity that is quickly understandable.

But this is too simplistic - it's not just where you start off, it's the effort you put in once you start. Someone who starts off with great privilege, and squanders it, will be much worse off than someone who starts off with no privilege, but continues to strive upwards towards success. Your economic class, or skin color, or sexual preference, or mental illness, may give you a worse starting point than someone else, but where you end up in life depends more on the direction you point, and the efforts you put in. The accidents of birth are not destiny, and if we don't teach our children the overwhelming importance of individual effort, we put them at a disadvantage in the real world.

Thank you very much, and again, my offer for a talk over lunch to anyone who disagrees with me is still open.